ARUNDEL, THOMAS (1353-1414), archbishop of Can terbury and lord chancellor of England, was the third son of Richard Fitzalan, earl of Arundel and Warenne, by his second wife, Eleanor, daughter of Henry Plantagenet, earl of Lancaster. In 1373 he became archdeacon of Taunton, and in April he was consecrated bishop of Ely. In 1388 he became archbishop of York, and in 1396 archbishop of Canterbury. During the early years of the reign of Richard II. he was associated with the party led by Thomas, duke of Gloucester, Henry, earl of Derby, afterwards King Henry IV., and his own brother Richard, earl of Arundel. He was three times lord chancellor under Richard II. After the arrest of Gloucester, Warwick and Arundel, the archbishop was impeached by the Commons, with the king's consent, although Richard held out hopes of safety to him. He was charged with assisting to procure the commission of regency in derogation of the royal authority, and sentence of banishment was passed, 4o days being given him during which to leave the realm. Towards the end of 1397 he started for Rome. He then became associated with Henry of Lancaster, but did not return to England before 1399, and the account which Froissart gives, telling how he was sent by the Londoners to urge Henry to come and assume the crown is thought to refer to his nephew and name sake, Thomas, earl of Arundel. Landing with Henry at Ravenspur he took his place at once as archbishop of Canterbury, witnessed the abdication of Richard in the Tower of London, led the new king, Henry IV., to his throne in presence of the peers, and crowned him on Oct. The main work of his later years was the defence of the Church and the suppression of heresy. To put down the Lollards he called a meeting of the clergy, pressed on the statute de haeretico comburendo, and passed sentence of degradation upon William Sawtrey. He resisted the attempt of the Parliament of 1404 to disendow the Church, but failed to induce Henry to pardon Arch bishop Scrope in 1405. In 1407 he became chancellor for the fourth time, and in 1408 he summoned a council at Oxford, which drew up constitutions against the Lollards. In 141I he went on an embassy abroad, and in 1412 became chancellor again, his return to power being accompanied by a change in the foreign policy of Henry IV. In 1413 he took a leading part in the proceed ings against Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham. He died on Feb. 19, 1414, and was buried at Canterbury.
See the Monk of Evesham, Historia vitae et regni Ricardi II., ed. T. Hearne (1729) ; Eulogium historiarum sive temporis, ed. F. S. Haydon (1858-63) ; W. F. Hook, Lives of the Archbishops of Canter bury, vol. iv. (186o-76) ; T. Walsingham, Historia Anglicana, ed. H. T. Riley (1863-64)•